Pete Academy

Anyone know who the bassist is?

Save up for something decent. A Yamaha RBX170 is hard to beat for under two hundred quid.

One of the best ever funk basslines. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIkkPwjnpfs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIkkPwjnpfs[/url]

Great groove. Difficult to play properly. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH5xC5Ok0pY&playnext=1&list=PLBFF0DE19BD3E5986&index=7"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH5xC5Ok0pY...986&index=7[/url]

More old school. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5YUCygMBiE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5YUCygMBiE[/url]

Real old school. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoCl3UkF_Kg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoCl3UkF_Kg[/url]

[quote name='steve-soar' post='1090812' date='Jan 15 2011, 08:00 PM']TUNE!!!!!!!![/quote] Brilliant!

Amazing stuff in there. That prince Musicology live clip is awesome! Thanks for keeping this thread alive.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1089836' date='Jan 14 2011, 08:57 PM']In case I make it (looking good right now) which pub is that?[/quote] Spread Eagle, I think. Turn left out of the venue and keep going a bit. Corner pub.

This album is great. I'm looking forward to the extra tracks.

That bass is oddly endearing.

[url="http://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2011/01/victor-wooten-offers-1st-look-a-show-of-hands-15-and-vix-records/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bassmusicianmagazine+%28Bass+Musician+Magazine%29"]http://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2011/01/vi...ian+Magazine%29[/url]

Brilliant, Tom. Great sound, articulation, technique. My kind of playing.

I've A/B'd cheap cables against high end Monster cables, etc, and there is a difference in sound. But your ears adjust immediately, and then there's no difference whatsoever. And do the audience care? I use good cables for reliability.

[quote name='Sue' post='1087295' date='Jan 12 2011, 09:54 PM']I'll say hello this time! Sue[/quote] And you, Sue.

[quote name='silddx' post='1087405' date='Jan 12 2011, 11:20 PM']We'll simply ignore you. Actually Diane will be out of the country, in Peterborough. So just me this time.[/quote] See you in the same pub beforehand, Nige.

Great riff, great sound.

When I first started playing, I used a pick. Then I switched to fingerstyle, as my bass heroes played like this and I thought it was cool. A few months ago I got asked to dep with a band playing R & B stuff, which was mainly plec based. A couple of numbers in, my hand seized up, as I just wasn't used to it. I would practise both styles. I you want proof of how good and funky it is to play with a plec, check out Bobby Vega on YouTube.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1085427' date='Jan 11 2011, 01:05 PM']My view on Good Times? Its the classic problem with dance orientated music. 'Great' line (is it?) but the tune is actually bubble gum. [i]Good times, These are the good times, Leave your cares behind, These are the good times Good times, These are the good times, Our new state of mind, These are the good times Happy days are here again, The time is right, For makin' friends ,Let's get together, How 'bout a quarter to ten, Come tomorrow, Let's all do it again Boys will be boys, Better let them have their toys, Girls will be girls, Cute pony tails and curls Must put an end, To this stress and strife, I think I want to live the sporting life A rumor has it that, It's getting late, Time marches on, Just can't wait The clock keeps turning, Why hesitate, You silly fool, You can't change your fate Let's cut a rug, A little jive and jitterbug, We want the best, We won't settle for less Don't be a drag, Participate, Clams on the half shell, And roller-skates , Roller-skates[/i] Is it just me or is it junior school level poetry? I particularly liek the rhyming of boys and toys, girls and curls, late and wait.... Every rhyme is entirely predictable (the first thing that would come into most people's heads) and forced. It isn't Mark Twain, is it? At least Joni Mitchell doesn't have to worry about losing a grammy to Chic. I always think that the best songs are made up of great music and great lyrics. Good Times is essentially two riffs which are 4 bars long, both rifs are against the same two diatonic chords a perfect fourth apart. Probably the first chord change anyone with a guitar ever learns? The only thing that is even credible is the bass line and that, whilst it is iconic, is three notes on the beat followed by what is essentially a dorian minor scale (EF#GABC#DE) followed, in turn, by a slightly more interest lick on the A using the sixth and dominant seventh. The singers are [i]really[/i] lightweight (would never have made boot campm on X Factor) and the whole thing is just not very interesting. For me, and I stress again that this is and can only ever be subjective, Good Times evidence what I consider to be one of the maladys of musicians; we like the part so the whole tune must be good. Its a great bass line on a crap song. Like a lot of Jamerson, Marcus Miller, Pino etc - great players playing great lines on crap songs. Sax players like songs that make the sax player look good, as do guitarists, drummers and everyone else. Bass players are no different. Is that specific enough, Pete? I understand that people like it but they also like Mustang Sally and Moondance. This is as bad.[/quote] A very good answer, Bilbo. Chic were a self-proclaimed 'disco-funk' band. That is, music to dance to. I doubt anyone enjoying the groove would be bothered about the lyrics. It's a fairly simple bassline, but I've rarely heard it played correctly, and with the proper groove. And that part in the second section is tricky. The singers are far from lightweight. Nile Rodgers would never use anyone that couldn't sing to a high standard. How about you record and post your version, and I'll post mine?

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1084837' date='Jan 10 2011, 09:01 PM']I don't know, especially with those tracks you list - they're 'jam' tracks, playing tracks like that exactly the same each time sort of misses the point of a live band for me. Plus the bassline on chameleon's a synth, and the bass plays more like a guitar part. Even the Headhunters did it totally differently live, check out the part on 'Flood' which is brilliant fun. I enjoy listening to different players interpreting these parts in their own ways. The important thing to me is that the reworked part stays in keeping with the feel the band is going for. That's especially true for the 'Good Times' example, I disagree with Bilbo in that for me it's pretty much the blueprint for disco/funk groove but I still prefer hearing people play with it, otherwise I may as well just listen to the record. Having said that, it's not an easy one to play around on without stuffing it right up! Especially swing jazz players...[/quote] Good post.

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' post='1084798' date='Jan 10 2011, 08:31 PM']Have a look at our set list! Enjoyable though. Www.soul patrol.org.uk[/quote] Ah, is that the band that's played the Oxford Arms in Stoke many times?

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1084226' date='Jan 10 2011, 02:11 PM']It depends on a whole lot and especially the gig. I once got called for a one off £120 gig playing 32 cover tunes, 90% of which I had never played and the rest rarely. I settled for 'good enough' because, a, it was a one off gig and I was not going to need these tunes again, b, I didn't have the time to learn that many tunes that well and, c, the audience would not actually have been listening to that level of detail (a wedding). Other gigs require a greater investment. Its like all walks fo life. If I am speaking to a room full of people, the amount pf preparation will depend on the context, the people, what's at stake etc. I guess, if you are in a tribute band (:vomit:), you will need to nail the details but if, like me, you primarily play jazz, 'learning' the bass lines is anathema. Covers are a grey area as some are about replication whilst others are about interpretation. Personally, I would love to get to a point where I never play anyones lines but my own but that's nirvana I am never likely to reach. I guess it matters a lot sometimes and matters less at others. The only driver should be 'is the music the best it can be'. As for whether or not Bernard Edwards line on Good Times is perfect and cannot be improved? It isn't and it could. This is art not science. Good times is, subjectively, a shallow, nothing little tune (listen to the lyrics, ffs) that all of us could quite easily live without. And, yes, I play it on every wedding gig.[/quote] Sorry Bilbo, but I disagree with you regarding 'Good Times'. Care to improve on it? A shallow tune? Post us your take on it. Not your best post, mate.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1084750' date='Jan 10 2011, 08:05 PM']Not promising ... but trying to work on Mrs Clarky What time would you be onstage???[/quote] I think it's usually 8.30-ish

A little bump up in case anyone's interested.

More great tunes there.